I know people might say, “No, I’m just being authentic.” But being authentic does not mean being weird. (I shared my personal criteria for what I share online in the name of authenticity in this post.)
I think a general rule is, if you can’t imagine saying it in real life to a person, you shouldn’t say it online.
If you go to post something and you think, well, that would be braggy if I said that to someone, that’s a healthy check. It means you’d be bragging. So don’t post it.
Similarly, if you think, “Well, people would just walk out of the room if I said that in real life,” then maybe don’t say it.
If you’re always angry or cynical or all you do is complain online and you think, “Well, I wouldn’t want to be friends with someone like that in real life,” then that’s a clue that maybe you shouldn’t say it, or be like that.
And if you think, “Well, then I’ll have nothing to post,” then you’ve likely put your finger on a deeper issue.
Christians, let’s just stop being so weird online, OK?
2. Church Problems: Commenting on Politics
Part of the weirdness is political.
God is not a Republican or a Democrat, or in my country, a Conservative, Liberal or New Democrat. Nor is God an independent.
God is God.
When your church becomes a mouthpiece for a political party, you cease to be the church.
Your job is to share the Gospel, not to change the government.
As I shared in more detail here, Jesus and Paul spend surprisingly little time trying to influence the government. Jesus completely rejected the idea of becoming the government when people asked him to become their political leader.
